José del Avellanal Carreño (Madrid, 1998) is a composer, performer and light designer based in Berlin. His work, showcasing a strong interest in the visual and conceptual dimensions of a musical performance, engages actively with multimedia creation and theatricality and is centred around themes such as musical narrative, imperfect technologies, failed attempts at communication, and the encounter between human and machine. Other important elements in his practice include the translation of cinematic influences (either visual, aesthetic or conceptual) into the musical performance, approaching the human voice from a non-classical perspective (exploring vulnerability, identity, multivocality and its relationship with technology), and the manipulation and recontextualisation of ancient art and older media (such as poetry, cinema or news footage) as a tool for sociopolitical commentary.
His music has been performed by, amongst others, JACK Quartet, Vertixe Sonora, Les Percussions de Strasbourg, Ex-Sentia Ensemble, Arxis Ensemble, Ensemble Shockwave, Levy Lorenzo, Philipp Lamprecht, Ausiàs Garrigós Morant, Weston Olencki and the RNCM Brand New Orchestra; and has been showcased in festivals such as impuls (Austria), Rümlingen (Switzerland), Resis (Spain). Foresty (Italy) and SONIC MATTER (Switzerland). He has been the recipient of the Music Prize of WE:NOW Festival for Youth Art (2022) and an RNCM Creative Innovator Award (2021). As a performer his main focus is in contemporary vocal performance, and has been involved in the world premiere of works by Éliane Radigue, Severin Dornier, Jiwon Seo, Ali Latif Shushtari, BUREAU BUREAU, Ezequiel Capellano and himself.
José is a graduate of the Master in Composition Creative Practice at the Hochschule der Künste Bern, studying composition with Simon Steen-Andersen and Franziska Baumann, as well as singing with Franziska Baumann and Daniel Gloger. He previously studied composition at the Royal Northern College of Music with Emily Howard and Steven Daverson, graduating with first-class honours.